South Dakota's Black Hills

Howdy Partners!

 I have been so busy mowing the pastures and looking after all the horses. We are in Custer, SD and staying at the Broken Arrow Horse Camp and RV Park. The horses were always so happy to see me and it didn't hurt that mom had carrots!

 We had a great time in the Black Hills - so much to see. Mom and Dad's favorite was the Crazy Horse memorial - really spectacular and mammoth. The presidential heads on MT Rushmore would only take a fraction of the space next to his head.

The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski was hired in 1947 by  Chief Standing Bear of the Lakota Indian tribe to build a monument to their hero, Crazy Horse. As Mt. Rushmore was being built nearby, he wanted the white people to know the red man has great heros too. Below is the sculpture that will eventually be completed, probably not in my lifetime.

Next stop, Mt. Rushmore

We took some great drives through Custer State Park, one of the most beautiful and large state parks we have ever visited.

and some harrowing drives with steep, sharp curves and small tunnels, do you think our motorhome will fit?

All in all, a great time!

Adios,

Yuki

South Dakota Badlands

Greetings from

  In June we visited the Badlands of North Dakota and we were interested to see the differences it any in South Dakota. First  difference, it was 103 degrees here in August, and no rolling green pastures with horses, just lots of badlands!

but in the midst of it all dad managed to find some flowers!

 I made a special request for some close-up pics of of my pals, the prairie dogs and dad did a good job!

I learned they are very social and live in small colonies and like to play and kiss each other.

In my estimation, this guy needs Weight Watchers!

Mom and Dad visited a Minuteman Missile site, and relived the history of the Cold War, where missile sites were readied to be employed in the event of an attack from the Soviet Union. Mom thought that this time in American history was as to her generation, as is 9/11 to our present youth's generation. They went down an elevator to reach this  deployment site.

Ten miles away was the actual missile

Can you see it down there?

The last minute men left this sign

Before we came to the Badlands we stayed a night in Mitchell, SD to visit the famous Corn Palace.

Started over 100 years ago, each year the outside of the Corn Palace is decorated in a theme made from corn cobs - this years theme was "American Pride"  - very interesting!

Now, on to the South Dakota Black Hills!

Adios,

Yuki

Spring Green, WI

Along a quiet road in southern Wisconsin (Spring Green), there is a stretch of hill and valley that catches the eye. This is Taliesin, country home of Frank Lloyd Wright,  one of mom and dad's favorite architects.

In preparation of this visit, Mom read the book, Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan  and she was really glad she had. Although a fictionalized account of FLW and his affair with Mamah Borthwick Cheney (while both married to others), the docents at the FLW preservation confirmed it was primarily accurate. FLW built the home Taliesin, in 1911  for Mamah. 
He considered Taliesin to be the supreme "natural house" as the many leveled home blended so completely with its natural surroundings that it was not so easy to tell where walls left off and ground began. Taliesin was the scene of enormous tragedy in 1914,  but for those if you who have not read the book, I won't spoil the ending.

Mom and Dad took the Highlights tour - starting at Hillside, now a college for 25 student architects. No pictures were allowed inside, so here are some of the outsides. Not sure they do it justice.

Then onto the house, twice in 1914 and 1925 Taliesin was damaged by fire. Each time, FLW rebuilt, determined to make the next incarnation better than the last.

Romeo and Juliet, one of FLW's early forays into tradition defying design was a windmill he built for his aunts. This bold and unconventional interlocking construction gave the 60 foot windmill strength to stand without the aid of internal cross supports and it stood for ober 90 years until it was rebuilt in 1992.

 And finally, UNITY Chapel, the first building in the valley in which FLW participated as a designer

and where Frank and Mamah are buried.

Mom and Dad also visited the "House on the Rock"

built in the 60's by a man who mom and dad are convinced must have been Aspergers. It is billed as WI most famous tourist attraction, and that should have been a clue. They did walk into the Infinity Room, overhanging the scenery below. They also quickly toured the dark and dingy house and the dark museums containing thousands of collections, but would not recommend it to others.

Heading to South Dakota so that's all for now!

Adios,

Yuki

Rally Days

Greetings!

We have been really busy the past few weeks. After Door County we went to Manitowoc, WI on Lake Michigan to take part in our first Monaco International Rally. Monaco is the maker of our coach and Dad was anxious to meet other owners and to get more advice. So many Monacos, everywhere I looked! That's ours, first on the left.

From there we were part of a caravan traveling to Madison, WI for another rally. Here we are lined up, ours is to the right.

And away we go!

How many can you see?

I don't really like rallies as mom and dad are gone most of the day learning about rv stuff and I am stuck here in the coach waiting for them to come home. We had a good time in Madison, but didn't take too many pictures I guess, and none of me!.  A beautiful state capital, scene of the many demonstrations by labor unions and teachers against the current governor, Scott Walker. 

 

 

Madison is a very bike friendly city, as is most of Wisconsin. Dad was impressed with the bike rental system, just deposit your $$, take a bike and drop it off at the next stop.

There were thousands of motorhomes parked in the Allaint Energy Cneter Convention parking lot for the ralley. And then there was one, guess whose?

Yes, you guessed right, ours! We had a broken engine belt, and no one to help us on a Sunday so we stayed put until the next day when we were towed to a repair station.

Not a pretty picture, we spent 2 days waiting for it to be fixed and then we got on the road again!

Adios,

Yuki